1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a knee brace and more particularly to a knee brace that when worn by a person permits the knee to become rigid in substantially any position of the leg and to become flexible so as to bend, the brace being actuated to lock in substantially any leg position or being deactivated to unlock and pivot as controlled through an actuation device selectively by the user.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known to utilize a knee brace in the rehabilitation of persons who have suffered muscle damage in a leg, such as that as may occur as a result of an injury or a paralysis resulting from a stroke or the like. The construction of prior art knee braces are such that they lock the knee into a rigid straight leg position only. A manual release in the form of a pull pin is provided which must be pulled by the user in order to unlock the brace so that the leg may bend. The knee joint may move until the pin is manually reinserted. This limits or precludes flexibility of the knee and thus rehabilitation of the knee muscles. Additionally, not only is a manual unlocking of the brace required when it is desired to bend the knee, but the brace will only support a load in the locked straight leg position. Thus, the user may only walk stiff-legged with the brace in the locked straight leg position.